


Look For Me By the Moonlight

by CaptainLeBubbles



Category: RWBY
Genre: Fairy Tale Elements, Highwayman AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-14
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-20 11:11:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,830
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6003712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainLeBubbles/pseuds/CaptainLeBubbles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>The highwayman came riding, riding, riding..</em>
  <br/>
</p>
<p>The Scarecrow only attacks on the day between the old and new moon, and it's said that no jail in the world may hold him. But who needs a jail when you own his heart, and can rip away his life with a single word if he crosses the line?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Scarecrow

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was inspired by two songs, [The Highwayman](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvKBPr71dhA) and [Three Black Crows](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6HWepyTks0). It was originally meant to be a short story based on the song of the Highwayman, but as I wrote it I realized I could do more, and so it became a fairy tale instead. Well, sort of. You'll see.
> 
> This was originally posted to my Tumblr (wyomingsmustache) under the working title "Your Money or Your Life", but has been updated, edited, and expanded here. If you enjoyed the parts posted to Tumblr, please read this, as more has been added than was just there.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His love is not enough.

James Ironwood sat behind his desk, staring at the young woman at attention before him. He listened patiently to her report, which was a rather too long-winded, entirely too personally-taken tale of an attack by The Scarecrow, the most notorious highwayman in Vale. 

When she was done, he dismissed her with a wave of his hand, then stood and made his way over to the balcony doors, pushing open both of them and then turning to go back to his desk. By the time he’d returned to his desk, there was a man sitting on the balcony railing, clearly posing, watching him from behind the glass lenses of a plague mask.

The man pushed off of the railing and into the room, closing the doors behind him while he made his way over to James; James turned to lean back on his desk, giving the man a stern look that didn’t mask the fondness in his eyes.

“Take off that ridiculous thing when you’re with me,” James ordered. The man in the mask just moved closer, stepping into his personal space and leaning forward, head tilted back so that the end of the mask’s beak was less than an inch from James’ face.

“Qrow,” he said, a warning in his tone. There was another silence, and then the man reached up and pulled off the mask, to reveal a pair of red eyes and spiky black hair. He grinned up at James, cheeky and expectant. His eyes were glittering with mischief.

“I didn’t think she’d ever stop talking,” he said. “I know you don’t like me questioning your taste in proteges, but I gotta question your taste in proteges.”

“Schnee can be enthusiastic in giving reports, but she’s a capable woman and will make an admirable Commander when the time comes.”

“Not as good as you,” Qrow said. He stepped further into James’ personal space until they were toe to toe, and pushed his hands through to wrap around James’ waist. He leaned forward until they were flush against one another, resting his chin on James’ chest and looking up at him. “Anyway, I only have the night, I don’t want to talk about her. She’s not important.”

“What shall we talk about, then?” James said. “How about the trade coaches you attacked today?”

“What about them?”

“We had an agreement, Qrow.”

Qrow waved that away with one hand. “I didn’t hurt anyone. Not even their livelihood,” he added, when James opened his mouth to protest. “The Schnees have more money than they know what to do with. Instead of using it to get more stuff, they should be trying to help the town. Some of their dependents who won’t have enough to get through the winter without help. Your precious protege only cares so much because it was her family that got held up.”

“We still had an agreement,” James said. There was a growl in his voice that made Qrow’s blood sing. When James caught one of his wrists in one hand, he grinned cockily up at James before pulling away, not pulling his arm free.

“So what are you going to do about it?” he taunted. “Come on, Jimmy, don’t take it so seriously.”

His words, carefully calculated, were enough to have James pulling Qrow back against him with a growl, still clutching his arm with one hand, his other arm wrapping tight around Qrow’s waist and nearly crushing him.

“We’ll see,” he said, claiming Qrow in a kiss, deep and needy and rough and possessive. Qrow tugged his hand free and wrapped his arm around James’ neck, pulling him impossibly closer. James’ other hand, now free, came down to knead at Qrow’s ass, and then he hoisted Qrow up; Qrow obliged by wrapping his legs around James’ waist, and James spun them around so that Qrow was partially supported by the desk.

“I’m not seeing the down-side yet,” Qrow said, when James broke the kiss so he could move to sucking marks into Qrow’s neck. He wriggled against James, bucking his hips slightly so James would get the point.

“You will before I’m done with you,” James growled against his neck. “Where shall I have you first, my Qrow? Here on my desk, or shall we try to make it into my chambers first?”

“Jimmy, it's been a month since I've seen you. If you make me wait for you to drag me up into your chambers just so you can fuck me on that unnecessarily large bed of yours, I swear I am leaving you.”

“You won’t,” James said, and grinned. He pushed Qrow back until he was pressing him into the hard wood of the desk. “But desk it is.”

o/o

When James woke the next morning, sun streaming into his chambers, his unnecessarily large bed was empty, but still warm where Qrow had lain beside him. Nearby, pinned to Qrow’s pillow, was a silk pouch. Inside was a note and several small objects: pins, buttons, bright foil, a string of beads. James ran his thumb over the objects in one hand, while he held the letter in the other. It was Qrow’s usual nonsense, words of love and devotion interjected with snark and sarcasm. In between all of those, unsaid but very much there, was the reassurance that he’d be back at the next moon, that his leaving was not for good.

James looked at the tokens in his hand with a fond smile, then stood and moved over to his dresser. He pulled aside a secret door, which revealed a hidden cubbyhole containing a small wooden chest and a second wooden box. Into the chest went the shiny tokens, into the second box the letter, set at the top of the stack of more such letters. The silken pouch was set on his dresser, where for the next month it would catch his own tokens.

Then James went to get ready for the day, thoughts of Qrow pushed from his mind.

o/o

Outside, on the fence, a pair of crows sat in the dull grey morning chill, watching the General's manor in between arguing with one another. When James appeared, dressed in his full uniform and looking happier than he often did, the two crows squawked raucously before taking off in flight, still arguing as they flew through the air toward the forest. James paid them no mind, having better things to deal with than the mischief of corvids.

o/o

In town, Winter Schnee paced the floors of her study, pausing from time to time to stare at the charts on her wall. There was a pattern, there must be. The Scarecrow only appeared the days between the old and new moon, but never in the same place. But there had to be a pattern to how he chose his marks… didn’t there?

There _must_  be.

And Winter was determined to find it, since the General seemed to have no interest in tracking the Scarecrow. If he wouldn’t, then Winter would.

o/o

Outside of Vale, a coach ambled along through the forest. Inside a young girl slept, clutching a locket in one hand while her guard looked over her with watchful eye. Her name was Penny, and she was the daughter of his boss. It was more than his life's worth to let the girl come to any harm while he was delivering her safely home to her father.

o/o

On the hill, a tower overlooked the city. This tower was dark and foreboding, grim. Two crows, the same two arguing outside of James' manor, winged toward it, settling neatly on the table under the open window. A man clad in green approached them when he saw them, waving a hand over both. There was a squawk, the sound of glass shattering, and where the crows had stood a pair of humans sat instead, a man and a woman. Before he could greet them, ask them questions, the woman was already yelling at the man.

"Another month gone!" she said, pushing off of the table. "You said it would work this time!"

"I don't know why it's not working!" he shouted back. He reached into his pocket and took out a silken pouch, half-dumping the contents into his hands. This month's offerings included a button shaped like a bear, a beautiful red ribbon, a hatpin. Tokens of affection and love, given to him by the General. Collected to show that he was thinking of Qrow, even when the other was not there. Also tucked away in his jacket was an envelope, stuffed thick with the letter he'd spent the month writing. Qrow didn't mention that- he didn't want either his sister or the green-clad man to see its contents. _That_ was personal. "Anyway, I don't see you going out and trying to find a pure heart," he added, closing his fist tightly around the objects in his hand. "You should be trying just as hard as I am but no! You just sit around watching your husband moon over his new love! At least I'm trying, Raven!"

The woman- Raven's- eyes flashed red at his words, and the two would have surely come to blows were it not for the green-clad man stepping between them, holding out his hands to both.

"Both of you, please," he said. "This is not helpful, and I can only keep you in these forms for so long. Tell me about last night. What happened?" A blush spread across Qrow's cheeks, unbidden, so the man added, "You can leave out the sordid details."

"Heh." Qrow smirked. "It was the same as usual, really. Lots of sex. Tender words between. He doesn't want me attacking people anymore but he doesn't want to tell me to stop altogether or give me an ultimatum because he's afraid I won't come back if he does."

"You're not being devoted enough, then," Raven said. "If you were more devoted, then perhaps-"

"It doesn't work like that!" Qrow snapped. His eye flashed, and he turned his attention back to the man in green. "Why isn't it working, Ozpin? You said- if he loved me-"

"Maybe he doesn't love you," Raven said. "Maybe he's just using you. Perhaps if you hadn't rolled over for him the first time he smiled at you-"

"Get out!"

Then they were almost at blows again. Ozpin sighed. "If you are going to keep fighting, I am not going to bother keeping this spell going. Raven, please, do not antagonize your brother when I'm trying to get answers out of him. It doesn't help."

"Fine." Raven huffed, and turned to storm off toward the door, slamming it behind her as she headed up the stairs to the tower instead. Once she was gone, Ozpin turned back to Qrow.

"Perhaps there is more to the spell than I realized," he said kindly, resting a hand on Qrow's shoulder. Qrow didn't answer, just looked down at the tokens in his hand. Ozpin's face softened. "Would you like me to keep the spell going while you read your letter?"

"That would be appreciated," Qrow said quietly. "Raven'll probably like a little bit longer as a human anyway. You sure it won't take too much out of you?"

"I'll just have a big breakfast to make up for it," Ozpin said, turning toward the door. "I'll leave you alone, now. When you're ready, let me know."


	2. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's not his to give.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is just as much about Raven as it is about Qrow. She deserves some happiness to.

Qrow read through James’ letter twice over, then his favorite parts once more, the parts where James talked about how much he loved him. There was an ache in his chest when he read those bits- if James loved him so much, why wasn’t he breaking the curse?- but it also felt so good to see all the same. He wanted to read it a thousand more times, but it wouldn’t be fair on Ozpin to make him maintain the spell any longer- he’d had enough time.

He went to his room and poured his tokens out into the pile of blankets and pillows that made his nest- there were more tokens tucked into the folds of the cloth, James’ letters carefully stacked on the dresser under a paperweight that he could easily move even as a crow. He added the new one to the stack, and set the silken pouch beside it- over the following month, little tokens would be dropped into it, things that caught his eye while he was flying, for his next visit to James’ side.

And then it was time. He called down to Ozpin that he was ready- called up to Raven to warn her, and heard her door slam in response. It took a moment, it always did, but then, with a flash and the sound of shattering glass, where Qrow had stood was a crow, feathers glittering black in the sunlight pouring into his room, eyes glowing red with residual magic. He cawed and winged up onto the bed, and set to work arranging his new tokens into the nest where he wanted them, trying not to think too hard about what it meant that James’ love had yet to break the curse on him and his sister.

o/o

Penny’s coach pulled up in front of the manor promptly at noon. James was back home for lunch by then, having cut his day short so that he could meet Penny at her arrival. He was waiting at the front door when the coach pulled up; he waved the coachman aside before the man could open the door and did it himself instead. He wanted to be the first one Penny saw on her return home.

“Father!” she called, diving out of the coach and into his arms. He caught her with a laugh and swung her around, both laughing. “I am so glad to be home, Father! I have missed you very much.”

“I missed you too, my love,” he murmured, wrapping his arms more tightly around her.

He transferred her to his shoulder, holding her steady with strong arms, and turned to carry her inside, while the porter got to work on her luggage. She talked to him on the way in, chattering happily about all she had learned while she was away at school. He noticed, though, that she never said anything about any friends or doing any of the things that girls at school did, and that strengthened his resolve about a decision he had made.

He would talk to her about it later, though. Right now he set her down and sent her up to her rooms to change from her traveling clothes so that they could have lunch, and made his way up to his own rooms. Any of his subordinates or the people of Vale who saw him might be surprised to see him smiling broadly, but the servants knew him, knew his devotion to the girl, and were just glad that her laughter- and his- would fill the manor again.

o/o

Qrow slept until evening, then hopped to his window and flew back into the town, where he joined a group of the local crows in the garden behind the General’s manor. James always went for a walk around this time, and Qrow liked to watch him. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do, after all.

He had a child with him when he came out for his walk. This wasn’t that surprising- he often counseled the local children, speaking to them when they came to him with their troubles. Qrow suspected that the local children were the only ones- apart from himself, of course- who realized how soft-hearted their stern Watch commander truly was.

Qrow flew nearer, settling on a bird bath so he could listen to them.

“Penny,” James said. “Are you happy at school?”

“Of course!” Penny said. There was a long silence, and she toed the ground, staring down. “…no. I don’t have any friends.”

“I thought so,” James said. He put his arm around the girl’s shoulders, hugging her against him. “Penny, I was thinking.. how would you like to attend school locally? I know the schoolmasters at the local school personally, and I have faith in their abilities. I also feel that you would make friends more easily among the local children… and it would be nice to have you around all the time,” he added.

Qrow chirped softly, confused. What was James saying? How could he make such a decision? Who was this girl?

He moved closer, sitting on the hedge behind them. The girl was smiling up at James.

“Do you really mean it?”

“Of course! Why wouldn’t I want you near me, and happy?”

“Oh Father!” Penny hurled herself into his arms, laughing. “I would love to stay here with you!”

James’ laugh was rich, vibrant, delighted. Normally Qrow loved to hear it- loved to hear the way he laughed, loved the way his chest vibrated against Qrow’s ear. Usually when he heard that laugh he was sprawled on top of James, making lazy conversation in between bouts of lovemaking.

Now, the laugh pierced his heart like a hunter’s arrow, nearly knocking him from his perch. He waited until their walk had carried them deeper into the garden, then took once more to the wing and headed back to the tower, to his nest.

It was no wonder James’ love had not been enough to break the curse.

o/o

As soon as she had been returned to her usual bird form, Raven took to wing and flew out across the town, paying it little mind as she made her way to the forest beyond, settling in a tree outside of a cabin to watch two young girls arrive at the cottage. While she looked on, the elder of the two picked up a few logs before heading inside, the younger trailing after her. She was much smaller, but determined to help; where her sister’s arms were full of logs, she carried twigs and sticks.

The girls were met at the door by a woman in a white cloak, who smiled and praised both girls for being so helpful, ruffling the elder girl’s hair before stepping aside to let them both into the cabin.

In the tree, Raven hunched down, feathers ruffling and wings hanging loose at her side. It hurt to see, and Qrow was right, she should be trying to do something, but instead she just came back here, day after day.

o/o

Raven stayed in the tree for a while, but fluttered down and landed on the woodpile when she saw a man turn off the main road onto the footpath leading up to the door. He was whistling cheerily, an axe thrown over his shoulder, but he set this down when the door banged open the younger girl dashed out and into his arms.

“Hey there, baby,” he said, swinging her around before setting her own and ruffling her hair. He picked his axe back up and put an arm around her shoulder while the two made their way inside. Raven could hear their conversation through the window when they went in, the cheery greetings from the woman and the older girl, the endless chatter of the younger girl as she told her father of her adventures over the day.

It ached to hear. That should be her in there, greeting her husband while their children- would they have had more? Or would they have stopped at their only daughter?- told him of their day. She should be there, instead of the woman he’d replaced her with.

With a snap of wings, Raven took flight, unable to listen longer. She made her way back to the tower, settling down in her own nest rather than go speak to her brother or to Ozpin.

Tomorrow, she would do something else, for a change.

Maybe.

Probably not.

o/o

“He has a daughter!” were the first words out of Qrow’s mouth when Ozpin cast his human spell the next morning. Beside him, Raven’s eyes flashed angrily.

“A wife?”

“I don’t know!” Qrow paced angrily, burying anxious fingers in his hair. “But that doesn’t matter- the daughter- he can’t- it’s not his to give anymore!”

“And if it was, it wouldn’t be pure enough,” Raven added. She folded her arms and leaned back on the table, scowling. “You’ll have to find another.”

Qrow stopped his pacing, almost snarled in his sister’s direction. “Are you serious? Leave? Just like that? I can’t just walk away from him!”

Raven raised an eyebrow. “Really?” she said. “I wonder what that could possibly feel like.”

“Don’t- don’t you dare,” Qrow said. “Don’t you dare lump Jimmy in with Tai.”

“Why shouldn’t I?! You’re about to make the same mistake I did!”

“Because Jimmy didn’t marry my best friend the minute I wasn’t there anymore! Tell me, Raven, do you think Tai and Summer waited a few weeks to make sure you weren’t coming back or did they go to the altar right away? Which, by the way, I’ll note that’s something he never did for you. I wonder, do you think maybe he was just waiting for the excuse to marry Summer?”

With a shout, Raven pounced, fist ready to punch her brother in the face for his cruel words, but she found her body transformed in midair, Qrow’s as well. Nonplussed, she landed and launched herself at him again, beating her wings as she attacked him. He fought back, she’d known he would: he needed this, she knew. Needed to get out the hurt he was feeling. Well, she was feeling hurt, too.

When they finally stopped fighting, they lay on the floor in a ball of feathers, panting. Qrow buried his face in her feathers, cawing pitiably; she draped a wing over him in solidarity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cili and I brainstormed this this morning and I think I can say that it will have a happy ending. Unless I change my mind.


	3. True Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Qrow confronts James.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rumors are fun, right? No one has ever caught the Scarecrow, but also, everyone knows no cell in the world can hold him.

On the morning of the new moon, Winter approached the General with a plan to capture the Scarecrow once and for all. She had studied the patterns of his attacks, had charted his stops, and was certain that she could lay a trap for him that would catch him, and put him out of their hair for good.

“Schnee, we’ve been over this,” James said tiredly. “The Scarecrow is not a threat.”

“He’s a highwayman,” Winter said, barely containing herself. “We’re the Watch, it is our place to deal with him, before he _becomes_  a threat.”

James touched light fingers to his forehead and sighed. “In the years since the Scarecrow began his attacks, he has never once hurt anyone or stolen anything. He attacks one day a month. He is not a threat.”

“He searches through their belongings,” Winter protested. “He’s clearly looking for something specific- do you think that he will continue to act so non-threatening when what he wants is finally within his grasp? If they protest giving it to him, do you think he’ll just say please? After he’s gone through so much trouble? He is a menace- he must be dealt with.”

“Yes, all right,” James said. “There is the chance that you are right- but out there in my city are _real_ , _current_  threats- people who do, in fact, hurt others when they make their robberies. And _these people_  must be dealt with before a _hypothetical_  threat. I don’t have the time, the resources, or the manpower to focus on everything, so I have to prioritize, and I prioritize the ones who are causing my people _actual danger_.” Winter still looked defiant, so James stood and moved over to put a hand on her shoulder, leaning down so that he could look her in the eye. “One day you will be in my position and you will understand this. I know it’s frustrating for you- but the Scarecrow really isn’t a threat you need to worry about.”

“It’s only a day, sir,” she said. “Surely you can spare a few men for one day, so I can at least try?”

She wasn’t going to let this go, he knew. He sighed.

“Very well. You may have five men and one coach- and if it doesn’t work, then I don’t want to hear any more about the Scarecrow. Are we clear?”

“Sir!” She clicked her heels together and stood at attention; he waved his hand in dismissal and she left. He sat down at his desk with a heavy breath. He could only hope that Qrow wouldn’t be stupid enough to fall into Winter’s trap.

o/o

On the day of the new moon, the curse on Qrow and Raven weakened enough that they were able to move at will between human and bird form. It was one day a month, and they both made good use of it: during the day, holding up coaches, and at night, Qrow visiting James, trying to win his love and break the curse-

-well, he had. Now that they knew about Penny, they knew there was no way that James could break the curse, no matter how much he loved Qrow. But Qrow was going back tonight anyway- he got one night to be with James, he wasn’t going to give that up, no matter what Raven said.

It just meant they’d have to try even harder to find the locket they were searching for, and hope _that_  plan would work better than their other one.

Raven sat in the tree with Qrow, both with their Scarecrow costumes on. With the masks to hide their faces, the cloaks to hide their hair, and the thick, heavy, padded clothing to hide their shapes, no one had ever noticed that there were two Scarecrows. It was no wonder they were hard to catch.

“Who’s taking first round this time?” Qrow asked, as a coach approached in the distance.

“You did the last one,” Raven said. “I’ll take this one.”

“Right.” Qrow spread his arms and dropped from the tree, transforming halfway down and flying over to join the ever-present flock of crows that lived in Vale. Meanwhile, Raven muttered ‘ _showoff’_ and prepared to leap from the tree as well, when the coach got close enough.

Inside the coach, Winter drew her sword and waited. They were nearing the spot- soon the Scarecrow would be in her grasp, and she would be the one who had caught him- the General would understand, then.

Right on schedule, a figure in a cloak and a plague mask dropped down onto the path, brandishing a sword. The coach came to a halt, and the driver knocked on the coach to warn Winter and the other soldiers within.

“It’s time,” Winter said, raising her sword. “Don’t let him leave your sight- that’s when he does his vanishing act. On my mark-”

There was a knock at the door of the coach, and Winter threw it open, launching out and landing bodily on the Scarecrow, who cried out in shock. Winter registered dimly that it sounded like a woman’s voice, that it was a woman’s shape underneath her hands, but didn’t have much more time for realization before the two were fighting. The Scarecrow pushed her off and rolled away, leaping to her feet and brandishing her sword, but the other soldiers were already drawing theirs as well. It was six against one- not even the Scarecrow could get out of that, especially as they had her surrounded, and there was no way Winter was letting the woman out of her sight, not now that she was so close.

Nearby, Qrow watched as Raven fought the soldiers. What were they doing there? James had sworn- so long as he harmed no one, he would not send his men after them. Why would he break his word? Was it because of the Schnee incident last month? Had he truly been so upset? Qrow had assumed that was just a part of their game.

Raven couldn’t hold her own against all six, not if they weren’t letting their eyes off of her long enough for her to transform. It wasn’t the first time one of them had been captured- there had been several times over the years. That’s how they got the reputation for not being able to be held. Qrow waited until they’d bound Raven within the coach and were on their way, then took flight and followed. It was always better to wait till they were in the cell to do their disappearing act.

o/o

James was finishing off the last bits of his letter for Qrow when the messenger burst into his office, shouting about Winter having caught the Scarecrow. He dropped his pen in shock, and leaped to his feet to follow the man back to the Watch house. _Dammit, Qrow! How could you be so stupid_?

Winter was waiting for him at the Watch house, looking smug and haughty and pleased with herself. James was not going to hear the end of this any time soon, he knew- he only hoped that he could get Qrow out of the noose without too much embarrassment for her.

She led him down to the cells, where the Scarecrow was being held, and then stood to attention in front of the cell. And there he was, Qrow, leaning on the cell bars and watching them through the lenses of that ridiculous mask of his. James clenched his jaw against the irritation he felt, and the way his pants were already tight at the sight of him. That cocky stance could always get to him, but he didn’t have time for this right now.

Once the guards had been dismissed, Qrow pulled off the mask and grinned cockily at the both of them, winking at Winter, who looked as though she’d just been punched.

“Well, Jimmy, you caught me,” Qrow said. “I hope you enjoy the time while it lasts, because I’ll be gone by sunrise.”

“ _General_ ,” Winter said, stressing the title while James glared at him. “This isn’t the Scarecrow.”

“What?” they both asked. Winter just clicked her heels again, shifting back into attention.

“I don’t know who he is, but the Scarecrow is a woman. I know, I fought her. She cried out, and I felt her shape.”

“You must be mistaken, Schnee,” James said. “This is the person you captured, right?”

“I don’t see how he couldn’t be, but he can’t- because the person I captured was a woman.”

“I can assure you I’m no woman,” Qrow said. “I don’t know how you managed to make that mistake-”

“I know the shape of a woman under my hands!” Winter hissed, snapping forward to glare at him. Qrow gave her a cocky grin.

“I’ll just bet you do, Princess.” He turned to James. “So what do you think, General, am I free to go? Since her highness here believes I’m not the person she captured, that means I don’t belong here.”

James narrowed his eyes at Qrow. “No,” he said. “No, you’re staying here. Schnee doesn’t believe that you’re the Scarecrow, but I do. Schnee,” he added, turning to her. “You’re dismissed. I want to talk to the Scarecrow alone.”

“Sir…”

“ _Dismissed_ , Schnee,” he said, more firmly this time, then added, softer, “I won’t take my eyes off of him for a moment.”

“…sir.” She clicked her heels, far less enthusiastically, and left. James turned to Qrow, who had draped his arms through the bars and was slouched over, watching James closely.

“Gonna stay here in this cell with me all night, Jimmy?” he asked, when James began taking out his keys, and then, “What is your daughter going to say when you don’t come home?”

James fumbled, and dropped his keys. “What?”

“Your daughter,” Qrow said. “The one that was away at school, that you didn’t think to tell me about. What’s her name, Penny? Cute little redhead with a pretty pink bow?”

“How did you find out about her?”

“I got my ways. Let’s just say a little birdie told me.”

“Have you been spying on me?”

A shrug. “I like to keep an eye on you while I’m away, make sure you’re all right. Why didn’t you tell me about her?”

“I didn’t think you’d care,” James said. He picked up his keys and returned them to his belt, then turned to lean back on the cell. “You’re angry.”

“A wife?”

James shook his head. “She’s a foundling- I would never be so unfaithful, if I had a wife. Why are you angry?”

“You never told me.”

“I wasn’t trying to keep her from you,” James said, “if that’s what you’re worried about. It wasn’t a secret- I just genuinely didn’t think you’d care.”

“Well I do!” Qrow snapped. “Cause as long as you got her, you can’t give your heart to me.”

“What?” James looked stunned. Raised a hand to rest on Qrow’s cheek, only to have Qrow pull away. “Qrow, I am fully capable of loving more than one person at a time. I can love both you and my daughter, fully and completely.”

“Yeah, you can love us both- but your _heart_  can only belong to one person, and it’s hers. Don’t even try to tell me I’m wrong,” he added, when James opened his mouth to protest. “We’re both about to die, and you can only save one. Me or her- who’s taking a dirt nap?”

“I-” James bit his lip. Hung his head. “I’m sorry.”

Now it was Qrow’s turn to reach for him, touching his jaw with light fingers.

“Don’t be,” he said. “I’m not angry that you’d put her before me- I promise. I’m just saying, your heart belongs to her. You can’t give it to me, because it’s _not yours to give_.”

“You’re not making sense, Qrow,” James said, leaning his head into Qrow’s touch. “What are you talking about?”

“Magic, Jimmy,” Qrow said. “I’m talking about magic- the rules about true love. They’re bullshit, but they’re there.”

“Magic?”

“I’m cursed,” Qrow said. “And the only way to break a curse is with a pure heart, freely given. I thought maybe- yours- but you have a daughter. And your heart belongs to her.”

There was a long silence. James watched Qrow, hanging his head against the cell bars, and felt his heart breaking. He still had no idea what Qrow was talking about, but he was clearly hurting. James fumbled for his keys again, and unlocked the cell door, stepping inside and drawing Qrow into his arms. Qrow went to him willingly, feeling the warmth that was his Jimmy wrapped around him, and let out one long, shuddery sob. He understood how Raven felt, now- understood why she went, day after day, to watch Tai and her daughter with their new family. He understood because he knew there was no way he could stop visiting James.

Because maybe James couldn’t give him his heart, but he owned Qrow’s. Qrow wasn’t going anywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep mistyping Scareqrow I hate you Qrow and your stupid Kool Letterz name you asshole

**Author's Note:**

> I can't promise this story will have a happy ending but I'm gonna try.


End file.
